Reminiscing: Con*Cept 2004

This week-end is Con*Cept - Montreal's Annual Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention. I only went once, back in 2004, but I had a lot of fun and I got to meet the members of l'Alliance Impériale, the first costumer's group I got to join.

It was my first convention, so I only wore a costume for the Masquerade. I was planning to wear an Arwen's Angel Dress costume, but I ran out of trim and time to finish it (and to this day, it still isn't finished, because I know more about sewing and constructions and I see too many imperfections in my old work), so I went with the nicest costume I owned (and it is still one of my nicest nowadays), my Arwen's Dying Gown (also known as Beach Blond Arwen).

Gwenyver's Arwen Dying Gown, Con*Cept 2004

Beach Blond Arwen striking the pose, Con*Cept 2004

I wasn't the only LOTR character present (although I didn't know any of them prior to the Masquerade):

Louise as Legolas, the Christmas Elf, Daniel as Frodo and Gwenyver, Con*Cept 2004

Group Picture of the Masquerade Entrants, Con*Cept 2004

The funny thing about this picture is I am amongst members of l'Alliance Impériale, whom I got to know months later. On my left is Marianne Solav, on my right, CPL. Dom, and the Bounty Hunter is Tionniel.

I had two favorite costumes at that Masquerade. The first was a girl dressed as the Eye of Sauron atop Barad-dûr:

Julie Scott as The Eye of Sauron, Con*Cept 2004

How cool is that? A prom dress transformed into a building! I was really impressed and told her so abundantly.

The next was Maral Agnerian a.k.a. Sarcasm Hime; her costume was simply breathtaking.

Maral Agnerian a.k.a. Sarcasm Hime's Lily Faerie, Con*Cept 2004

That is an impressive use of Organza! Maral, along with Dawn McKechnie, a.k.a. Kaijugal, and Heather Morton were a sweet trio of flower faeries.

Maral Agnerian, Dawn McKechnie and Heather Morton, Con*Cept 2004

I was truly impressed by their costumes. I absolutely loved them. You can't tell from the picture, but, for instance, there are rows of seed beads down the petals of Maral's costume. I though they should win, but apparently, the judges thought their costumes were bought, or so Maral told me when I met her at Otakuthon last year, where she and Dawn were judging the Masquerade. It should be mentioned that two of Con*Cept's Masquerade judges were Stargate SG-1 (1997) Peter Williams (Apophis) and Douglas Arthurs (Heru'ur). They didn't know much about costume making, but the skits that made people laugh won (including, surprisingly, one about a Jaffa and an SGC soldier). Also, Masquerades usually follow the International Costumers' Guild Competition Guidelines, but they just gave first, second and third places.

But that's OK. I was happy to be there, I enjoyed my first experience at a convention, I made friends and got to see gorgeous costumes.

Note: All pictures shown here were taken by Charles Mohapel and can be found on this page.